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EDIT: Thank you SO much to everyone who has supported us so far. We are ecstatic! Our original goal for this Kickstarter was $2500 - but we hedged out bets and aimed low, because it would be better to cut a few corners then not be able to do this project at all. $2500 is the new goal we want to shoot for and will give us a lot more breathing room in our budget, so if you were considering donating, please do. Thank you!

Green Criminology is a specialization of criminology that explores how environmental damage affects our Earth, its ecology, and humanity. Toxic dumping and chemical spills are major examples of environmental disasters that we call "green crimes" - The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill is a great example of this. The purpose of green criminology is to look at how our environment is negatively affected by pollution caused by activities such as: toxic dumping, strip mining, mountain-top mining removal, and wetland draining. Activities which are usually carried out by corporations.

Every year millions of people suffer from the side effects of pollution exposure. But penalties for pollution are often small - in the US it usually amounts to a small fine, and in developing countries pollution is often ignored. In countries such as China and India millions of people are exposed to polluted air and water that causes disease and defects.

We want these harmful acts to be recognized as what they are - crimes. Like robbery and assault, pollution harms people directly. It victimizes individuals, who in many cases, are unaware of what is happening to them (such as the Love Canal dumping), or have no ability to prevent these crimes.

The term Green Criminology was coined by my father - Dr. Michael J. Lynch, Professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida - in 1990. Since then green criminology has attracted other academics and has spawned dozens of books and papers on the subject.

Who are the IGCWG? The International Green Criminology Working Group (IGCWG) is an international organization made up of college professors and researchers. The IGCWG draws together criminologists from around the world who are interested in addressing one of the most pressing issues in modern times -- crimes against the environment and their control and regulation, also known as green criminology. IGCWG’s provides a way for criminologists from around the world to communicate and engage in joint ventures related to education and research. The IGCWG currently has around 90 members from around the world - including Spain, Finland, Japan, and Australia.

Our goal is to build an online journal that will allow for the distribution and publication of original papers, studies, and research created by our members. Here are some examples of what we plan to make available:

(1) Publish original educational materials such as curriculum and classroom materials online for use by both members and non-members. These materials will primarily be for use in college level courses;

(2) Establish an online journal in green criminology that will support public access to original studies examining issues related to the study of environmental harms, crimes, laws, regulations and environmental enforcement practices;

(3) Create online discussion forums where members can engage in the discussion and examination of emergent environmental harm, crime, law and justice issues;

(4) Create an online database of research materials including links to important data collections, laws and other relevant research and teaching materials;

Our website will also make our group more visible, allowing us to attract more members. Anyone is free to join the IGCWG and we encourage participation from everyone - even those without experience in the field.

In the long term we hope to move past just having an online presence. In the future the IGCWG wants to have representation for the group and for green criminology at major criminology conferences in the USA, such as the ASC. A long term dream would also be to publish our own peer-reviewed academic journal about Green Criminology.

On behalf of myself and the entire IGCWG we would like to thank you for taking the time to read about our project. Our goal with this project is to attract more attention to what we think is one of the most pressing issues in the world today. We hope you choose to donate and push us closer to our goal.

If you can't donate but would like to help you can do so by following, liking, and sharing our Twitter or Facebook.

The $2,000 we are asking for will allow us to purchase domain registration and hosting for the next few years, develop the site, pay for some hardware and software licensing, give me time to manage it, and give us a little left over for future use in the IGCWG. All money we collect over our goal will be retained in a fund for the IGCWG and will be used for many future projects, such as presence at the ASC conference, printing of a physical journal, future maintenance costs, and other projects proposed by our members.

If you have any questions about the project, our group, or our goals, or the people involved, please use the button below. Thank you.

I am a big supporter of Kickstarter and its community and support the Kicking it Forward initiative, which promises that 5% of this projects profits (money left after initial expenses) will be reinvested in other Kickstarter projects.

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